Tools for Building Grant Proposal Budgets and BTI Allocation Requests

All grant applications need to be approved by Joanne Carruthers and signed off by John Dentes before submission.

To do this, bring the following to the business office:

• 1. A copy of your budget (in the format that will be submitted to the agency)
• 2. Budget justification
• 3. Scope of work/project summary

Once submitted, please provide Joanne Carruthers with a copy of your full grant proposal.

If you prepare a budget as a Co-PI on a proposal, these budgets need prior approval by Joanne Carruthers and require a subcontract letter signed by John Dentes. To do this, bring a copy of your budget, budget justification, and scope of work/project summary to the business office.

A copy of the form letter can be found here. This letter includes an important clause concerning intellectual property.

• Subcontract Letter

Once submitted, please provide Joanne Carruthers with a copy of the full grant proposal.

All Non-Traditional Agreements and Corporate-Sponsored Projects need prior approval from John Dentes (jmd12@cornell.edu). Please provide us with a copy of the proposed budget, budget justification and proposed scope of work before entering into any agreement with a third party. Once everything has been approved, and the proper agreements are in place, we will assign you a grant number and load your budgets. In many instances, we require pre-payment for non-traditional projects before setting up a grant budget for your lab.

Grants opportunities and instructions can be found in many places. It is important to be registered with the correct entities and websites before beginning the application process. Be sure you have ample time to register with a granting entity before your deadline. If you have any questions, please visit us in the business office.

BTI Grant Opportunities

The National Science Foundation (NSF)

• Main Website: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
• Grant Submission: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov (Registration with FastLane is required.)
• Fastlane Registration: Contact Joanne Carruthers (joc2@cornell.edu)

The United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research (USDA/CSREES)

• Main Website: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm
• Grant Submission: http://www.grants.gov (Registration with Grants.gov is required.)
• Grants.gov Registration: Contact Joanne Carruthers (joc2@cornell.edu)

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (NIH)

• Main Website: http://era.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html
• Grant Submission: http://www.grants.gov (Registration with Grants.gov is required.)
• Grants.gov Registration: Contact Joanne Carruthers (joc2@cornell.edu)

The Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD)

• Main Website: http://www.bard-isus.com
• Grant Submission: http://www.bard-isus.com/forms.aspx?fid

The United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)

• Main Website: http://www.bsf.org.il
• Grant Submission: http://www.bsf.org.il/BSFPublic/DefaultPage1.aspx?PageId=226&innerTextID=226

The United States Department of Energy (DOE)

• Main Website: http://www.energy.gov/ (then search “grant opportunities”)
• Grant Submission: http://www.grants.gov or http://e-center.doe.gov/ (Registration with Grants.gov is required.)
• Grants.gov Registration: Contact Joanne Carruthers (joc2@cornell.edu)

The current rates for BTI can be found here:

• Nonprofit Rate Agreement
• BTI Indirect Rates

An Excel template has been created to help you plan your budgets for BTI allocations and Pending Grants. It can be found here: BTI Budget Worksheet

A list of common BTI budget categories and their definitions can be found here: Link to Expense Category Descriptions

Budget Planning begins long before December. The key to building an effective budget is in understanding the expenses that affect your current operations. Some important considerations:

Salaried and Hourly Employees

• Will there be an annual increase in pay?
• Can I make a reasonable estimation of any pay increases?
• Do I expect to lose or gain personnel in the coming year?

Equipment and Maintenance

Identify which equipment items need occasional replacement or maintenance, (every three to six years?) Equipment examples may include: refrigerators, freezers, autoclaves, rotors, balances, centrifuges, microscopes, machinery, computers, printers, lighting or fixtures. In addition to anticipating the cost of equipment, it is a good idea to keep a record of infrequent but costly expenditures associated with maintaining equipment items. A record will help you keep better track of these occasional expenses and budget accordingly in future allocation requests. Examples of infrequent maintenance costs may include: service contracts, scheduled preventative maintenance such as lubrication & calibration of equipment, and foreseeable replacement of equipment parts such as batteries, hardware or lamps.

Expendable Supplies

Regular weekly monitoring of your budgets via the BTI Web Portal is the most effective way to monitor the expense of chemicals, wipes, tubes, pencils, and other commonly used supplies. Again, it is helpful to maintain a record of infrequently purchased expendable supplies such as printer cartridges, or cases of copy-paper. If you would like to investigate a history of your spending habits, contact us in the business office, (bti_busoff@cornell.edu). We are happy to help.

Internal Services

BTI provides a variety of Internal Services. These services are available to BTI laboratories for a fee.

CurrentRateSheet.pdf

If you have questions about the services and applicable current rates, please contact the business office (bti_busoff@cornell.edu)

If you receive an award notice from your program director, please share this document with Joanne Carruthers (joc2@cornell.edu). We will then assign you a grant number and load your budgets, so that you may begin with your project.

If you are a CO-PI on an award, awarded to another institution then BTI will need a subcontract. Please provide us with a copy of the award letter and the contact information for the sponsored research office at the lead institution so that we may initiate the subcontract/agreement process. Once subcontract agreements have been signed by all parties, a grant number will be assigned and we will load your budgets, so that you may begin your project.

All Non-Traditional Agreements and Corporate-Sponsored Projects need prior approval from John Dentes jmd12@cornell.edu Please provide us with a copy of your proposed budget, budget justification and proposed scope of work before entering into any agreement with a third party. Once the proper agreements are in place, a grant number will be assigned and we will load your budgets.